Battleground 2014
Battleground (2014) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on July 20, 2014 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, in Tampa, Florida. It was the second event under the Battleground chronology. It was also the last WWE pay-per-view event to use the WWE scratch logo. Event summary Adam Rose vs Fandango It was a happy birthday for Adam Rose tonight, as his WWE Battleground party went unspoiled, thanks in part to his opponent Fandango’s scorned former partners: Layla and Summer Rae. The new Rosebuds danced down the ramp with the Musha Cay native, which clearly agitated the ballroom dancer, over whom both Divas were recently at each other’s throats. Fandango instantly took out his aggravation on Rose, jumping on the party leader with a flurry of fists in the corner the moment the bell was rung. It seemed that Fandango would run away with the bout as he maintained control over Rose, but he was quickly distracted by his former love interests. Layla and Summer had gathered the Rosebuds and began dancing around the ring while singing Rose’s theme music. When Fandango jumped down to confront and intercept the ladies, he was rewarded with a stiff slap from each Diva. This gave Rose all the time he needed to recover, quickly tossing Fandango back in the ring and putting on a mat clinic at Fandango’s expense. With Fandango reeling, Rose barreled from corner to corner into the dancer with a huge clothesline and followed it up with the Party Foul for the three-count. Rose then joined Summer, Layla and the rest of the Rosebuds for a dance party up the ramp, pausing briefly to accept a kiss on the cheek from both Divas, while the now-single Fandango watched on in defeat. Cameron vs Naomi Also confirmed for the event was Cameron squaring off against Naomi, which took place on the pre-show. After they lost to AJ Lee and Paige on the July 7 edition of Raw, Cameron and Naomi attacked each other, effectively breaking up The Funkadactyls and setting up a match for the event. Emotions ran high on the WWE Battleground Kickoff, as former friends Cameron and Naomi settled their Divas drama in a knockdown, drag out fight. In what could be considered an upset, Cameron defeated her former Funkadactyl partner in somewhat controversial fashion, perhaps proving she truly is The Bomb dotcom. As the WWE Universe watched live on WWE Network, in addition to WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Pheed, Naomi exploded out of the gate, needing to be held back by the referee before the bell even rang. Despite Naomi’s quick start, Cameron – who talked a big game leading up to this heated showdown – initially seemed frightened to engage her “Total Divas” co-star in combat. Using the referee as a distraction, Cameron gained the upper hand, using hard hitting strikes to keep her spirited rival grounded. It didn’t take long, however, for Naomi to turn the tables on her former partner, utilizing her own feisty offensive arsenal. Cameron – who evidently had enough – began to walk away from the ring. Instead of taking the count out victory, Naomi pulled her rival back into the squared circle. Unfortunately for the dreadlocked Diva, Cameron made her adversary pay for this decision, using a school girl rollup – and a fistful of tights – to pick up the victory. With one battle in the books, are these fighting Funkadactyls ready to say “Girl, bye” or is this conflict just getting started? AJ Lee vs Paige On the June 30 edition of Raw, AJ Lee returned to the WWE and defeated Paige for the Divas Championship. On the July 11 edition of Smackdown, AJ was scheduled to defend the title against Paige at the event. Paige may be The Diva of Tomorrow, but AJ Lee remains the Divas Champion of today. The Black Widow turned back the challenge of her “frenemy” in a thrilling title contest that was a stark departure from the Divas’ previous two encounters, both of which were over almost as quickly as they began and resulted in the crowning of a new champion. Unlike those impromptu contests, the Divas Championship Match at WWE Battleground saw both athletes come to the ring very prepared for their opposition. On multiple occasions, both Divas survived their foe’s signature moves, proving just how thoroughly they scouted one another. Though the sugary sweet compliments and suspiciously high praise that’s defined this “friendship” was nowhere to be found, the Divas Championship Match did start out with a display of sportsmanship in the form of a handshake. Very quickly after that, AJ and Paige went hold-for-hold and move-for-move. AJ’s spinkick was returned with a side kick from the battling Brit. A suplex attempt by the youngest Divas Champion in WWE history was reversed into a spinning DDT by the longest-reigning Divas Champion in history. Paige used her size advantage to wear down AJ, grounding her with a chinlock. After scoring a two-count on the Divas Champion, however, Paige seemingly urged on the titleholder, saying “AJ, come on!” Moments later, Paige countered AJ’s cross body block attempt, only to have it turned into AJ’s neck-cranking Black Widow submission hold. Surprisingly, Paige broke the hold and then hit the Paige Turner. This time, however, it was Paige who was in for a shock, as the Divas Champion kicked out at two. Paige tried locking in the PTO submission shortly thereafter, but AJ slipped out of the hold and connected with a brutal shin-to-skull Shining Wizard for the pinfall to retain the title. AJ’s shown she can defeat Paige when both Divas are ready for the match, but does that mean her problems with The Diva of Tomorrow are in the rear view mirror? Jack Swagger vs Rusev Jack Swagger didn’t beat Rusev at Battleground, but he brought the fight to him in a way no other Superstar has. If you’ve been following The Super Athlete’s reign of dominance in WWE then you know that’s an accomplishment in its own right. In a physical, relentless fight that looked less like a wrestling match and more like deleted footage from “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” Swagger and Rusev traded blistering strikes and punishing holds with the over-the-top carnage of movie monsters. It wasn’t all swinging for the fences with Swagger, though. The newly minted American hero focused much of his attention on Rusev’s vulnerable ankle from the start. It was a wise decision — no matter how formidable an opponent is, it’s impossible to bulk up an ankle. Swagger’s attempts at The Patriot Lock clearly threw Rusev off as the typical powder keg offense of the big man all of a sudden became clinical. If he didn’t strategize against Swagger, he’d pay the price. Still, Rusev’s power was undeniable and the way he threw the 270-pound Swagger around the ring with relative ease was hard to deny. The most dangerous aspect of Rusev’s offense is that every part of his body is lethal — he can dispatch an opponent with a knee or foot just as easily as he can with a fist. And when he wasn’t blasting Swagger’s kidneys with ugly kicks, he was twisting his head like a man struggling to pop the lid off a pickle jar. Just when it looked like Swagger was done, though, he found a reserve of energy in the fans’ chants of “USA!” to battle back with a series of well-placed boots and a Swagger Bomb. The All American’s best shot at victory came when he countered Rusev’s jumping thrust kick with The Patriot Lock. The excruciating hold pushed Rusev far beyond his pain threshold before he finally managed to struggle to the bottom rope. When Rusev retreated to outside, Swagger followed and applied The Patriot Lock on the arena floor. It was a curious bit of strategy — the maneuver could’ve caused both men to be counted out — but Rusev used Swagger’s momentum against him and sent him face first into the steel ringpost. The impact knocked the Oklahoman out cold and allowed Rusev to hobble back into the ring to win by count-out. The Hero of the Russian Federation tortured his opponent with The Accolade after the bell, which looked to be a sign of frustration more than anything. Swagger may have lost to Rusev, but he exposed one very important truth about the dangerous Superstar — he can be beaten. Results * Singles match: Adam Rose (with Layla and Summer Rae) defeated Fandango * Singles match: 'Cameron defeated Naomi * '''Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship: 'AJ Lee © defeated Paige * '''Singles match: Rusev (with Lana) defeated Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) by countout Other on-screen talent * Ring announcer: Lilian Garcia * Pre-show Panel: Renee Young Image gallery BAT14 Photo 012.jpg BAT14_Photo_013.JPG BAT14_Photo_014.jpg BAT14_Photo_015.jpg BAT14_Photo_016.jpg BAT14_Photo_017.jpg BAT14_Photo_018.jpg BAT14_Photo_019.jpg BAT14_Photo_020.jpg BAT14_Photo_021.jpg BAT14_Photo_022.jpg BAT14_Photo_023.jpg BAT14_Photo_024.jpg BAT14_Photo_025.jpg BAT14_Photo_026.jpg BAT14_Photo_027.jpg BAT14_Photo_028.jpg BAT14_Photo_029.jpg BAT14 Photo 069.jpg BAT14_Photo_070.jpg BAT14_Photo_073.jpg BAT14_Photo_071.jpg BAT14_Photo_072.jpg BAT14_Photo_074.jpg BAT14_Photo_075.jpg BAT14_Photo_076.jpg BAT14_Photo_077.jpg BAT14_Photo_078.jpg BAT14_Photo_081.jpg BAT14_Photo_079.jpg BAT14_Photo_080.jpg BAT14_Photo_082.jpg BAT14_Photo_083.jpg BAT14_Photo_084.jpg BAT14_Photo_091.jpg BAT14_Photo_085.jpg BAT14_Photo_086.jpg BAT14_Photo_087.jpg BAT14_Photo_093.jpg BAT14_Photo_094.jpg BAT14_Photo_095.jpg BAT14_Photo_096.jpg BAT14_Photo_088.jpg BAT14_Photo_090.jpg BAT14_Photo_089.jpg BAT14_Photo_092.jpg BAT14_Photo_097.jpg BAT14_Photo_098.jpg Category:2014 pay-per-view events Category:WWE pay-per-view events Category:Summer Rae Category:Layla Category:Cameron Category:Naomi Category:Paige Category:AJ Lee Category:Lana Category:Lilian Garcia Category:Renee Young